Hello, I'm Alissa's mom. After the urging from friends and family I've decided to set up this GoFundMe in hopes of raising money to help us get through this difficult time.

Ali is a sweet 7 year old autistic girl. She loves the color pink, Bluey, and her tablet. She's in 1st grade, can count to 100, and is a daddy's girl. She works hard every week to earn a good behavior prize, a Mini Brands Balls. She loves school. She steals her mommy's favorite spot on the couch. She loves Happy Meals. This is her first hospital stay and unfortunately she has no insurance.

Early Sunday morning, February 16th, Ali woke up and felt sick and threw up. Her stomach hurt, she wouldn't eat, and was generally unwell. We had hoped she would feel better on Monday but she was still in pain Monday morning. Her dad was home to watch her and I went to class. While in class I couldn't stop worrying and when I got home just a little while later I asked Ali where the pain was. She pointed to her lower right abdomen. I instantly began to worry for appendicitis and immediately took her to the hospital ER.

Once there, they thought the same and confirmed it via CT scan. It was perforated, or ruptured, and she would need surgery. Alissa was then transferred to our local children's hospital over 20 miles away via ambulance and brought in quickly for surgery. It took longer then expected, but everything was a success and she was set up in recovery where we could see her. It was a shock, she had a second IV put in and a tube through her nose to help drain her stomach. I wanted to cry.

Now Alissa is in her own hospital room and always has mommy and/or daddy with her. She will need to stay in the hospital for about a week to recover and then hopefully she'll come home with us. She's been amazingly brave, has left her IV, tube, and incision sight alone despite the discomfort, and is already up and walking around. We're so proud of our little girl.

All this had to happen at a very rough time for us. I'm unable to find work beyond some small sales of my art and I am taking classes, paid for by my father, (thank you Dad) to become to phlebotomist in hopes of expanding my employment options. My husband works as a salesman and sales have been slow after the holiday season, he's working hard to try and promote within the company, but that takes time. We currently live with my parents for free, thanks to their generosity. Our car payments are late. We're down to our last few dollars and we're using them so we can stay with out little girl.

So with all that, I'm asking for help, if you can, with all the debt we're going to have. The hospital told my husband that the estimate so far is $44,000 with their self pay discount. My husband is taking off work to be with her while I'm in class so I don't get removed from the program for absence. I don't expect much, because times are hard for everyone, but even a few dollars is a bit of gas or a snack for us while we stay with her.

So, thank you for taking the time to read this, thank you for the well wishes and thoughts, and thank you for any bit you can spare, even if it's just a share.